Act 2

In terms of the passive skill tree …

.. I recommend following this skill tree path which was explicitly designed to make the gaming experience as pleasant as possible for new players. That being said, it focuses more on survivability and comfort than damage since these are way more important at the beginning, but the guide will elaborate on options to adjust the skill tree in order to be more damage centric for the endgame later.

Kill all bandits

In Act 2, you will get a quest called Deal with the Bandits which lets you choose between helping or killing three specific NPCs. You should kill all three of them to get two additional skill points.

Finish the quest ‘Intruders in Black’ as soon as possible

You can complete the quest Intruders in Black by following this path:

  1. Enter The Old Field (right side)
  2. Head east/northeast to enter The Crossroads
  3. Head north/northwest to enter The Chamber of Sins
  4. Kill Fidelitas, the Mourning in the Chamber of Sins Level 2
  5.  Go back to The Forest Encampment

Get a mana flask with 'Flask effect is not removed when Unreserved Mana is Filled' modifier

This task is very important and should be completed as soon as possible!

Since this build uses a lot of auras, you will have a limited amount of mana available to spend for active skills. To counter this, you want to have a mana flask with a ‚Flask effect is not removed when Unreserved Mana is Filled‘ modifier. This modifier can be rolled on mana flasks with an itemlevel of 16 or higher (you can see the itemlevel by pressing ALT when you mouse over the item).

For now, there are 3 ways to get this modifier:

  1. Loot and identify a magic mana flask and hope it has the specific modifier (uncommon).
  2. Use an Orb of Transmutation on a normal mana flask to make it magic and hope it gets the specific modifier (uncommon).
  3. Use Orbs of Alteration on a magic mana flask to change the modifiers until you hit the desired modifier (the outcome is still heavily rng-based, but it’s the most reliable way to get this modifier). Important: Only use these methods on flasks with an itemlevel of 16 or higher.

Note: Also make sure to occasionally use this method on higher tier mana flasks in order to increase the amount of mana the flask actually provides. If you didn’t find a mana flask yet, you can also check if Yeena in The Forest Encampment (and vendors in all upcoming towns in Act 4+) sells one.

Choose Herald of Ash as a quest reward

You get (R) Herald of Ash for completing the quest Intruders in Black. Use it as soon as possible. Otherwise just level it in your second weapon set until you can do so. (R) Herald of Ash is an aura, so you have to activate it.

Note: You have to have a mana flask with the “Flask effect is not removed when Unreserved Mana is Filled‘ before using (R) Herald of Ash. Otherwise you will suffer from not having enough mana to use your skills.

Buy Herald of Purity from the vendor

You can buy (R) Herald of Purity from Yeena in The Forest Encampment after completing the quest Intruders in Black. Use it as soon as possible. Otherwise just level it in your second weapon set until you can do so. (R) Herald of Purity is an aura, so you have to activate it.

Note: You have to have a mana flask with the “Flask effect is not removed when Unreserved Mana is Filled‘ before using (R) Herald of Purity. Otherwise you will suffer from not having enough mana to use your skills.

Get a Poleaxe and upgrade it by using a vendor recipe as soon as possible

There are specific item combinations you can sell to any vendor to get a specific return. Such trades are referred to as “vendor recipes”. The following vendor recipe allows you to get a better weapon [which will increase your (G) Shattering Steel damage by quite a substantial amount so it’s recommended to do this as soon as possible] :

Once you’ve received the upgraded weapon from the vendor, make sure to use an Orb of Augmentation on it to add another modifer.

  • Please note:
    • If you haven’t looted a Poleaxe yet, check out the vendors in town.
    • The preset loot filter highlights Poleaxes (red color).
    • In case you only have a normal (white) Rustic Sash, you can use an Orb of Transmutation to make it magic (blue).
    • Note: If you haven’t found any Rustic Sash belt by now, check out if the vendors in town (Nessa in Act 1, Yeena in Act 2 or Clarissa in Act 3) sell one – the chances are pretty high. Also, keep in mind that the items sold by the vendors are reset each time you level up.

Choose Vicious Projectiles Support gem as a quest reward

You get (G) Vicious Projectiles Support for completing the quest Sharp and Cruel. You can swap this gem with Momentum Support if you have problems dealing with bosses. Otherwise just level it in your second weapon set; you might use it later.

Get a Double Axe and upgrade it by using a vendor recipe as soon as possible

The following vendor recipe allows you to get a better weapon [which will increase your (G) Shattering Steel damage by quite a substantial amount so it’s recommended to to this as soon as possible] :

Once you’ve received the upgraded weapon from the vendor, make sure to use an Orb of Augmentation on it to add another modifer.

Buy several gems from the vendor to level them in advance

In order to have leveled gems later when you switch to your (G) Toxic Rain setup, you want to buy the following gems now and level them in your second weapon set:

Complete the Trial of Ascendancy in The Crypt

For now, this is optional. You can do this later as well. Trials of Ascendancy are mazes within specific areas of the campaign – in this case, The Crypt.

Complete the Trial of Ascendancy in The Chamber of Sins Level 2

For now, this is optional. You can do this later as well. Trials of Ascendancy are mazes within specific areas of the campaign – in this case, The Chamber of Sins (Level 2).